WOMEN in Agriculture Scotland brought together the people of Ayrshire and beyond to the fantastic venue at The Coo Shed, run by the Kerr family.

Alison Kerr, owner of the business, gave an insight into what went on at The Coo Shed and the history behind it.

The Scottish Farmer: The Coo ShedThe Coo Shed (Image: web)

Alison used to work for a bank but with a change of career in mind studied horticulture before starting up the successful Corton Plants. The Coo Shed was opened in 2017 as an “add-on” to this! Little did they know how this would change life as they knew it.

Alison’s daughter Joanne works alongside her after coming home during Covid.

The vending machines on the farm, which are open 24/7, provide fresh milk from their grass-fed herd of Holstein Friesian cows which are looked after by Alison’s husband, Willie, and their son David. Not only can you get fresh milk they now have a variety of milkshake flavours.

A tour was followed by dinner and an inspirational presentation from Callum Deboys, an athlete and chef, who told the group about how a motorbike accident changed his life. Callum was on his way to work when he was involved in a serious accident and if it had not been for the Air Ambulance and the roadside medical care he would not be here.

The Scottish Farmer: The event was very well attended The event was very well attended (Image: web)

Callum was put into an induced coma after 20 hours of surgery and his parents had to make the heartbreaking decision 5 days later that his leg should be amputated to save his life. Three weeks later Callum was brought out of the coma to be told this devastating news – however, after three days of feeling low and wondering what life would be like, Callum decided that life was for living and took up sport after meeting a British Paralympian who came to the hospital to help him learn to walk. He has now competed in the Para Nordic Sit Skiing at the Beijing Paralympics in 2022 and has now decided that cycling is his next challenge.

Callum has also competed in Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef where he got to the final and said that it was the most stressful thing he has ever done, but thoroughly enjoyed pushing himself and of course meeting Gordon Ramsay.